The New Charity -- Why America Cares

Take Reagan budget cuts, add some rock music, colorful sweatshirts and the desire to climb out of a Me Decade rut and you've got a formula for new- wave generosity.

For the past two years, Americans have been eager participants in a star- studded fight against hunger and homelessness. Large-scale charity projects ranging from We Are The World to FarmAid to Hands Across America have combined '80s communication technology with a proven fund-raising principle: Celebrities can help sell causes.

Beyond the sales of USA for Africa albums and the spectacle of people holding hands in 16 states, though, are Americans really becoming more generous?

Statistics show that individuals are giving more to U.S. charitable causes than ever before. Last year they donated $66 billion of the almost $80 billion given to charities, continuing a longstanding pattern of giving more each year. In 1985, most of the money went to religious organizations.

Although the impact of Live Aid-style events on overall charitable giving can't be measured, representatives of social service organizations agree that they have at least made more people aware of problems. The events have been staged against a backdrop of social-program cuts that people perceive as both significant and permanent.

The events are successful in part because they appeal to groups with differing values and backgrounds, said Dave Fulton, a spokesman for Hands Across America. Last Sunday's ''human chain'' was formed to raise a projected $50 million to feed and shelter the homeless in the United States.

''Senior citizens viewed the project as a return to neighborliness and helping each other,'' Fulton said. ''The kids viewed it as the biggest party in the world.

''Democrats looked on it as grassroots liberalism,'' he said, and Republicans saw Hands Across America as the ''ultimate in private-sector initiative.''

Catherine Brown, a spokeswoman for Second Harvest, the National Food Bank Network, noted that cuts in funding for social-service agencies have been coupled with crises in the American farming and steel industries.

''I just think all this kind of stuff starts with hard news statistics and coverage. Hunger has been removed from the realm of the welfare rolls,'' Brown said. The fact that hunger has hit close to home ''makes it news again.''

''I don't think that any one particular thing happened in 1984 to start the momentum,'' she said. ''I think it has been building, particularly with the farm situation. . . . I don't think people just said, 'My God, Kenny Rogers and Bruce Springsteen are caring about this issue.' ''

Some 1960s-style activism, dormant during the past decade, also may be resurfacing, she said. ''Maybe what we're talking about is a little bit of a pendulum swing against the 'Me Generation.' ''

Americans are passionate about wanting to feed the hungry, but they qualify their generosity, according to a University of Florida sociologist who specializes in poverty issues.

Leonard Beeghley said Americans have a ''schizy'' attitude toward the needy. ''If you are legitimately needy -- helpless -- Americans want to help,'' Beeghley said. ''The other side of that . . . is if you're perceived as lazy or not willing to help yourself, Americans are real harsh.''

The plight of the poor ''appeals to traditional American sympathies,'' particularly ''in a context where it's perfectly clear government is doing less,'' Beeghley said. ''There is a widespread perception on the part of Americans that government is doing less.''

Whether or not the gargantuan effort of a Hands Aross America will lead to larger-scale giving locally remains to be seen. But the director of Orlando's Daily Bread, which feeds lunch to homeless and hungry people, said he has noticed an increase in awareness and in the willingness to get involved.

''I have been receiving calls from quite a few individuals,'' said Charles Parkhouse, ''far more than I've received in the past. I think the local community here in Orlando is finally waking up to the fact that there are thousands of homeless people in this country, this land of plenty.''

Organizers of Hands Across America said they hope that participation in the ''human chain'' ultimately will translate into volunteer action and giving on an individual basis -- without prompting from celebrities or media events. Last week was ''truly the beginning,'' said Fulton. ''hands Across America is not over.''

Neither is FarmAid, a charity event with a sequel. FarmAid II is scheduled to rock the University of Texas at Austin this summer.